Investigators with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office determined that Andrew Demers, 73, of New Gloucester, had sexual contact with a juvenile under the age of 12 for several months.

Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce said the victim is a 4-year-old female relative of Demers.

State police are letting the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office handle the case to avoid any perceived conflict of interest. The investigation began one week ago, and the retired colonel turned himself in Monday morning.

Investigators said they conducted several interviews with witnesses and the suspected victim before arresting Demers.

“It’s disturbing because we deal with this all the time and we see the fallout. We see that it’s not right,” Joyce said.

Demers is accused of having sexual contact with the girl at his home nine or 10 times over the past two months, Joyce said.

Investigators said Demers admitted to the crime.

“The initial admission was to a family member and then that got to a former colleague and then that was relayed to the district attorney’s office,” Joyce said.

One of Demers’ neighbors said he was shocked by the allegations.

“Oh yeah, I hope it’s not true,” Bob Grindle said.

Grindle used to work as a youth pastor and has lived in the neighborhood for seven years.

“For anybody to molest a child is ridiculous and disgusting and all the words you want to use about it,” Grindle said.

Demers tried to kill himself last week by taking pills, a source said.

Investigators issued a warrant for his arrest Friday.

Joyce said there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered.

“I didn’t see anything where there was any 'whys?' I think, as an investigator, that’s what you always ask is why? What happened? What is it? And I can’t tell you what the why was,” Joyce said.

Demers was released on $5,000 bail and cannot have contact with anyone under age 16. He and his lawyer were not available for comment.

No court date has been set yet.

Col. Robert Williams of the Maine State Police confirmed Demers is the retired chief of the Maine State Police.

"The State Police are stunned at the allegation and saddened for the victim and their family. Our thoughts and concerns are with them," Williams said.

"We learned of the allegations last Monday and immediately referred the case to the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office.

"To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, we suggested that the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office investigate and we have had no further involvement in the investigation. Demers served 26 years with the State Police. He joined the department in 1967 and was named chief in 1987, where he served for six years. He retired in 1993."